


Venomous

by Allthemfanfics



Series: Come On, Peter... Come On, Spider-Man! [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: #SorryNotSorry, Based on a comic from Instagram, Go check it out: @pinetrees_, Had to be done, He draws amazing art, Hurt Peter Parker, Other, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter gets hurt, Tony Stark Has A Heart, the comic stole my heart so i decided to write a story based around it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-31 06:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15113795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allthemfanfics/pseuds/Allthemfanfics
Summary: "What the hell is it?" Tony asked Strange, eyeing the black substance curiously."Something extremely dangerous."***When Stephen Strange asks Tony Stark to store a mysterious black substance-Strange refers to it as a 'symbiote'-Stark obliges. He locks it away and orders that no one goes near it...Peter didn't mean to let it touch him--honest.





	1. A Favor For An Old Friend

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY, SO this story is inspired by a comic made by @pinetrees_ on Instagram. His drawings are amazing and he made an amazing comic about Venom and Peter and Tony and I couldn't help but get inspired to write this story based on his take on the Venom story arc. So, please go give him a follow on Instagram, or at least go and check out the comic that inspired this story! Thanks, everybody!

**_A Favor For An Old Friend_ **

 

Stephen Strange's name was honestly the perfect fit for his new life. It was indeed strange. He had gotten used to most of it by now, the magic, the aliens, the enemies... but there was always something that seemed to surprise him. That day in November was the day it all started. Stephen didn't know what he was getting into when he found it, honestly. It didn't seem harmful at first, so he took it back to the Sanctum he had been assigned to protect, the New York Sanctum. 

The doctor stored the mysterious black substance away, not knowing what it truly was until it was too late. 

Wong told Strange what it was, a symbiote. The term was lost on the doctor, he'd never heard of anything like it before. According to Wong, it came from outer space. Strange sighed when he found out he had brought an alien back into their Sanctum. Of course he had. Because nothing was ever as it truly seemed, and Strange had forgotten that. He should have realized, his life was never as it seemed anymore. 

When the symbiote broke out of its case and began trying to escape, Strange decided there was only one person he could turn to for help. As much as he hated to admit it, Tony Stark would know what to do. 

So he left Wong in charge of the Sanctum while he traveled to the Avengers compound in upstate New York to ask for the billionaire's help. 

"Not gonna lie, I didn't expect to see you so soon," said Tony Stark as he welcomed Strange into the compound. Stark had once offered Strange a place on the team, a place at the compound. He declined, saying he couldn't leave his station in New York City. It was his duty to protect the Sanctum, he couldn't just abandon it. So, Stark had instead awarded him honorary membership of the Avengers team. 

"I know, sorry if I'm intruding," Strange replied. 

Tony shook his head and grinned at the man. "You're always welcome here, Strange," He said. "I can't help but ask, to what do I owe the pleasure?" 

Strange sighed. He wasn't used to asking for help from anyone, except maybe Wong. But here went nothing: "I need a favor." 

The billionaire turned to look at the magician and raised an eyebrow. He knew just as much as the next guy that Strange wasn't the type to ask for help. Usually, when the Sanctum was in trouble or ever needed help, he got a phone call (or surprise magical portal visit) from Wong; never Strange. 

"Sure. Name it." 

The magician raised his hands and used his sling ring to open up a portal (to where Tony couldn't tell) and reached in. What he pulled from the portal caused Tony to raise an eyebrow. Strange was holding a box engraved with odd markings. It was beautiful, Tony had to say, definitely something mystical. 

Tony was a man of science, and all of Strange's magic had always dumbfounded him. For the longest time, Tony always said that magic was just science that they didn't understand yet. But Strange was adamant on making him see that magic was simply that: magic. 

Strange was less than successful so far. 

"What's in the box?" Tony asked, tilting his head curiously. 

"It's easier to show you," Strange replied as he set it down on the table in front of them. Strange held his hands up and began circling them in the air, creating a sparkling golden glow appear. It still marveled Tony to see his friend perform magic. Even if he didn't believe in it, Tony had to admit that it was impressive. 

The box was encased in the magical glow before the lid began to open. Tony leaned over, interested to see what Strange had brought. 

At first, Tony didn't get what the fuss was about. He saw nothing more than a pile of black goo. He raised an eyebrow and then turned his head to look at Strange. "You brought... black goop?" He asked. 

"It's far more than 'black goop'," The magician replied darkly. Tony noticed the tone of voice and immediately began to take Strange seriously.

"What the hell is it?" Tony asked, eyeing the black substance curiously.

"Something extremely dangerous." 

"Right, right... why do you have it?" The billionaire questioned.

"I found it. Wong calls it a 'symbiote' and apparently it's not from around here." 

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Meaning... it's not from Earth." He guessed. His suspicions were confirmed as Strange nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

"Keep it locked away," Strange answered. "This is one of the most secure buildings in the entire world, it's much safer than the Sanctum--I need you to keep it here, away from people, until Wong and I can figure out how to send it back to where it came from." 

Tony nodded understanding. "Sure, I can do that," He replied. "But what if you  _can't_ send it back?"

Strange shrugged. "Then we'll figure out a way to destroy it." His magic slammed the box shut again. 

***

"Thank you for this, Tony," Strange said as he handed the box off to his friend. "I know you're not a fan of aliens, I appreciate that you're doing this."

The billionaire shrugged, waving the magician off. "Don't worry about it, aliens are dicks, so if I can keep one from being a dick to everybody, you bet your ass I'm gonna," He said. "You just keep me posted about this thing, if you find anything out, that is." 

Strange nodded. "You got it." The men shook hands before Strange opened a portal back to his Sanctum in New York City. "Oh, and Stark?" Strange turned back to him as he was stepping through the portal. "Whatever you do, don't let anyone touch that thing." With that, he was gone. 

Tony snorted. "That's not ominous as hell at all." He headed down to his secure vault--it was where he kept all of the Avengers most dangerous and most useful tools. New models of Cap's shield, weapons for the Widow and Hawkeye, even new gear for Thor and the Hulk, were all stored in the vault. Tony let the device scan his thumbprint before the doors slid open. 

He walked into the vault and placed the box on its own shelf, far in the back. "You won't be getting outta here anytime soon, buddy," Tony said as he stared at the box. "Look at me, I'm talking to a magical box that has an alien inside." He sighed, shaking his head. "And it's not even the weirdest thing I've ever done." 

The billionaire turned on his heel and left the vault, securing the door on his way out. 

The door closed, and the symbiote was left in darkness. It didn't like that.

***

 _"I will escape... I will not be kept here..."_ It hissed to itself.  _"Venom will not be contained!"_


	2. In Your Corner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Peter finds a newspaper article that brings down his mood, Tony is there to offer a bit of advice to cheer the kid up.

**_In Your Corner_ **

 

Saturdays were Peter's favorite days of the week. Not because he didn't have school, or even because it gave him the day to go on patrol or watch Star Wars, but because it was his upstate visiting day! Every Saturday, Mr. Stark sent Happy Hogan to pick Peter up at eight o'clock sharp so that he and Peter could work in his lab upstate, or so they could train together, or even just hang out with the other Avengers. So yeah, Peter freaking  _loved_ Saturdays. 

When eight o'clock rolled around, Peter grabbed his backpack and raced out of his room and through the apartment towards the front door. "Bye, May, see ya later tonight!" He said excitedly as he gave his aunt a kiss on the cheek before bolting out the door with the biggest grin on his face. His aunt watched him go, laughing lightly as he bounded out of the apartment like a kid on Christmas morning. 

Peter raced down the stairs of the apartment building and out onto the sidewalk, where a silver Audi was waiting for him at the curb. Peter grinned from ear to ear as he climbed into the car. "Morning, Happy!" He greeted the driver as he closed the car door behind him. 

Happy Hogan was Peter's 'point man', as Mr. Stark liked to say. He was the person that Peter was supposed to text first if he was having any issues as Spider-Man. Or, that's how it used to be, at least. Mr. Stark had really warmed up to Peter in the past several months, and now Peter had Iron Man's personal cell number in his contact list. It excited Peter beyond belief when Mr. Stark had loaded the information into his cell phone himself. The number was for emergencies only, technically, and Peter was afraid to ever actually use it, so he still mostly stuck to texting Happy whenever he needed something. 

"You're two minutes late, kid." Happy turned in his seat to face Peter. "I run a tight schedule around here, I don't have time for you to be messing around, alright?" 

"Right, sorry, Happy," Peter apologized, but he knew that the driver was just messing with him. Mostly. 

The car ride upstate was about two hours long, so usually Happy turned on a radio talk show, which was a secret message to Peter to be quiet. Usually, Peter obliged and kept his mouth shut, occupying himself with homework or surfing YouTube, but today was different for some reason. Peter just couldn't help but be a bit hyper active that particular Saturday. Needless to say, it was annoying Happy out of his damned mind. 

Happy liked Peter well enough, he had saved his job when he stopped Vulture from stealing the Stark quinjet on moving day. Happy respected Peter, but sometimes the kid was just too much. He hardly ever kept still, and when he did, it was because his mouth was running at a hundred miles a second. When the kid got to talking about something that he was excited about, there was no stopping him, so Happy just sucked it up and listened to the kid run his mouth until he was done. 

That Saturday, however, Peter didn't seem to want to end. He was too excited, and though Happy didn't blame him for it, it was certainly getting on the older man's nerves. He found it best just to try to tune him out. Or role up the divider. 

And after thirty minutes of listening to Peter ramble on about the new Solo movie, Happy did just that. 

That's when Peter finally got the message and decided to work on his math homework. It was basic enough stuff, so he finished rather quickly, and spent the rest of the trip on his phone, looking through news articles about Spider-Man. Most of them were nice, Queens, along with the rest of New York City, seemed to like the web slinging hero well enough, but there was one newspaper that always seemed to try to bring out the worst in him: The Daily Bugle. 

It was a local Queens paper run by a man called J.J. Jameson. He hated Spider-Man more than some of the villains he fought. Jameson claimed that Spider-Man was a 'menace' who had to be stopped. He was constantly slandering the hero's name, and while Peter tried his best to ignore it, today was different. 

The story that Peter stumbled upon was titled "Queens Menace Spider-Man Destroys Local Cafe". Peter scoffed. He hadn't destroyed anything! He was fighting a crazy strong guy that could pick up a car and throw it two blocks! It just so happened that two blocks away had been the cafe... no one had even been hurt, Peter made sure of that! But Jameson was so adamant on destroying Spider-Man's reputation that he lied whenever the chance to make the hero look bad presented itself. 

So when they finally reached the Avengers compound, Peter's mood had plummeted. He was quiet as they got out of the car. "Thanks for picking me up, Happy," He said to the older man. "Mr. Stark is in the lab, right?" Peter already knew the answer, so he didn't bother to wait for Happy's response before he headed inside and up the stairs towards the lab. Happy watched the kid go, raising his eyebrow as he did. Something was wrong. 

The driver pulled out his cell phone and sent a quick message to Tony:  _Hey, Boss, we made it. The kid's on his way to the lab. Just a heads up, he was perfectly fine when we left the city but now he seems_ upset.  
 **Delivered at 10:04a.m.**

He didn't get a message back, but that was the usual. Tony read his texts, but hardly ever responded to them. So, knowing the kid was in good hands, Happy went to get started on his other job: being the head of security for the Avengers. Hardly anyone ever believed him when he said that. 

***

When Peter walked into the lab that morning, he wasn't in the chipper mood he had been when he left his apartment two hours prior. He tried to hide that, though, by plastering a big fat smile on his face as he approached Mr. Stark at his work bench. "Morning, Mr. Stark!" He greeted as he plopped himself beside his mentor while setting his backpack down beside him. 

Tony glanced up from his work. "What's up, kid?" He asked, hoping to figure out what had caused Peter's sudden change in mood that Happy had warned him about. Tony knew that teenagers could have weird mood swings, considering they were all going through puberty, but from what Tony knew about him, Peter always seemed to be in a pretty happy mood. He didn't usually get upset by small things, or even big ones, depending on what it was. Peter was an optimist, and Tony admired that about the kid. 

He was better than Tony would ever be. 

Peter shrugged, propping his head up against his hand as he admired the work Tony had been doing to one of his Iron Man repulsers. "Nothing much. I finished my math homework on the trip up here," He replied. "What are you working on?" 

"Nothing really, a few minor upgrades to the Mark 50." Tony shrugged. "Speaking of minor upgrades, let's see your suit. I hope you haven't destroyed it." Tony decided not to push it and ask Peter if he was okay, if the kid didn't want to talk about it, then who was Tony to force him to? It wasn't like he was the kid's dad or anything. 

Peter grabbed his backpack with a smirk as he pulled out his undamaged suit. "No, I haven't destroyed it, Mr. Stark," He replied. "I'm not that reckless." 

"Kid, I can name at least five times where you've been reckless off the top of my head right now." Tony raised an eyebrow at the young hero teasingly. 

Peter didn't seem to realize that it was just Mr. Stark being joking with him, though, because he ducked his head as his ears turned pink. Was he really that reckless? Was he really what Jameson thought about him, just a menace? He shook the thoughts from his head before turning back to Tony and putting on yet another fake smile. But it was too late, the billionaire had caught on to Peter's change in attitude.  _Screw not forcing him to talk,_ Tony thought. 

He sighed. "Alright, Peter, what's going on?" 

Surprised, the kid looked up. Mr. Stark almost never referred to him by his first name. It was always either 'kid' or 'spiderling' or 'Mr. Parker' or some other weird nickname that Tony had come up with. He only ever used Peter's first name when he was being serious. "What do you mean, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, hoping to sound believable. He could tell that Mr. Stark wasn't buying it, though. 

"Come on, Peter, I can tell when you're lying." Tony leaned against the work bench. "Happy sent me text when you got here saying that you weren't acting like yourself, he's worried. So, tell me what's going on with you."

Peter ducked his head again as he mulled over the options in his head: option one, he could again lie and say that everything was fine. But Mr. Stark probably wouldn't buy it at that point... Option two, he could tell him the truth and risk embarrassment in front of the man he had looked up to since he was six. Option three, he could run. 

Option two it was, he guessed. 

The young hero sighed before fishing his phone from his pocket and opening up the story he had been looking at on the way upstate. He slid his phone across the work bench and let Mr. Stark take a look for himself. "It's just... I saw this story this morning, and I know it's stupid because I shouldn't care what one newspaper has to say about me, and I know they're not technically talking about  _me_ but I can't help it because they're calling me a menace and it's making me wonder if that's true, if Spider-Man is doing more harm than good. What if I'm not cut out to be a superhero, Mr. Stark? What if I can't do anything right because that's what they're saying and--"

"Kid, stop it." Tony set the cell phone down with a sigh. Peter shut his mouth. "You don't actually believe any of this bullshit for a second, do you?" 

Peter shrugged, glancing down at his hands. "I don't know... normally I wouldn't," He replied. "But lately... it's just been--it's just been getting to me, you know?" He paused for a moment. "I  _know_ I shouldn't care about what one guy thinks about me, but I'm just scared that he's making everyone else think what he thinks. What if New York hates me?" 

Tony stared at the kid for a moment. It was easy to forget how young he was. He was fifteen years old, for Christ's sake, and Tony often forgot it. Words got to kids in ways they didn't get to adults. They were insecure enough about their identities without having to worry about what everyone else thought of them. Being a teenager sucked, as Tony recalled. He couldn't imagine what it was like to be a kid Peter's age worrying about whether or not an entire city's worth of people hated him. 

"Listen, kid." Tony placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "You're never gonna be able to please everybody, that's just how it is. And yeah, it sucks, and yeah, sometimes it's hard. But you've gotta remember the people who do care about you, the ones who do support you. You don't do it for the one's trying to drag you down, you do it for the guys who are in your corner backing you up." 

Peter smiled and looked at his hero. "Thanks, Mr. Stark," He said. Normally, if Peter had been talking to May, he would have gone in for a hug at this point. But this was Mr. Stark, and Peter was pretty sure that he didn't do hugs. So he kept his distance. 

Tony almost went in for a hug, but figured it would be better if he didn't. He didn't really do hugs, and while Peter was probably looking for comfort at that moment, he wasn't sure if he was the right person for that. Tony was good with tools, not so much with people. 

"No problem, kid." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this was kind of short, but I figured it was a good place to end it. 
> 
> Strange comes back to visit Tony in the next chapter, but Peter might get into a bit of trouble...


	3. Doctor Strange's Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Strange comes back to the compound to test out a theory, Peter meets the symbiote Tony has been keeping locked away in his vault.

**_Doctor Strange's Visit_ **

 

It was around five o'clock when the portal opened and non other than Doctor Strange stepped through. Exciting things happened at the compound whenever Peter visited, but he never imagined that he would get to see Doctor Strange on that fateful Saturday! 

Doctor Strange was a cool guy, from what Peter knew about him. They had only met once before, and those circumstances weren't really spoken of by any of the heroes. In fact, most of them liked to pretend it never happened. Peter didn't mind that even a little bit. He didn't like talking about what happened in space. So they didn't. 

Peter didn't know that Tony had banned the others from talking about those events while Peter was around. 

"Strange, good to see you again." Tony stood up from his work bench and went to shake the magician's hand. 

He nodded and took Tony's hand. "I wish it were under better circumstances," He replied. "I need to see it, Wong and I think we may have come up with a solution. But I need to test something before we can try it." 

"Sure thing, follow me," Tony said. The two heroes headed towards the lab door before Tony stopped and turned to Peter. "You, too, kid. I don't need to come back to a half destroyed lab." 

"That was one time!" Peter protested, but got up and followed Tony and Strange anyway. 

They went down a private elevator that Peter had never seen before--and he had been all over the compound! It went underground, as far as Peter could tell. His spidey senses began to go off, but Peter figured it was probably due to them getting deeper and deeper. Peter took deep breaths and tried to focus on not being underground. Ever since his encounter with the Vulture on Homecoming night, Peter didn't do well in especially tight spaces, or underground spaces. He had become a bit claustrophobic since the whole incident, but tried to hide that the best he could.

When the elevator came to a stop, Tony led the two down a long hallway at the end of which there was a large metal door. Peter looked at in awe before turning to Mr. Stark. "Where are we?" He asked. 

"This is where I keep all of our toys," Tony replied. "Some of my older suits, Cap's new shield, gear for everyone... just a bunch of shit that probably shouldn't fall into enemy hands." He held his hand up to the scanner. It dinged and the door began to slide open. "I figured this was the safest place to keep it, Strange." 

The magician nodded approvingly while Peter admired the equipment that lined the walls. He wanted to touch  _everything,_ but he knew Mr. Stark would send him straight home if he tried to mess with Captain America's shield, so he kept his hands to himself. He kept up with the other men as they headed towards the back of the vault. Peter glanced over Mr. Stark's shoulder as he picked something up from the shelf in front of him. 

"What is that?" Peter asked, tilting his head to the side curiously. 

"A magical box designed to keep the contents safe from anything," Doctor Strange replied, carefully taking the box from Tony before turning to leave the vault. Peter and Tony followed closely behind the magician. Peter had a million other questions that he wanted to ask. "What's in it?" He asked. "Is it something magic? Why did you give it to Tony? What is it doing in the vault?" 

"Slow down, kid," Tony said.

"It's a dangerous alien life form that I found not too long ago," Strange replied. "I asked Stark to keep it safe for me until I could figure out what to do about it, and I think I may have figured out a way to send it back to space, but I needed to test something before I tried." 

They found themselves back upstairs in seconds thanks to one of Strange's magic portals. Tony still wasn't used to traveling by them yet, but he had to admit, they were pretty handy. Strange set the box down on a table in front of him before lifting his hands. "You two might want to take a few steps back, just in case this goes wrong," He warned. 

Tony didn't need to be told twice. He and Peter moved back a bit and Tony subconsciously hid Peter behind his own body while Strange opened up the box. Peter was a curious kid, though, so he found himself peeking around Tony and watching Doctor Strange with intense curiosity. What was so dangerous about whatever was in the box? Sure, it was an alien, and yeah, most of their past experiences with aliens hadn't gone so well. But the Guardians were aliens, right? They weren't dangerous--well, they were, but they were the good guys. Not all aliens could be bad, could they? 

Strange used his magic to lift the symbiote out of the box, and Peter was able to get a good look at it. It was a black mass, as far as the kid could tell. Nothing more, really... other than the fact it had  _teeth._ Peter's eyes widened as he watched the creature struggle from inside Doctor Strange's magic bubble. He watched as the magician attempted to close the bubble smaller, and Peter wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to do, but he could tell that whatever he was doing, it was hurting the creature. 

It shrieked and slammed itself against the bubble, trying to escape. Peter couldn't help but feel bad for it, it probably wasn't even dangerous like Mr. Stark and Doctor Strange thought. What if it was just scared? It wasn't on its planet anymore, after all, it could be lashing out in fear, not because it wanted to hurt anyone. "Doctor Strange, I think you're hurting it," Peter said.

"That's kind of the idea," Strange replied, but eventually stopped, letting out a breath. "Dammit," He cursed. "Okay, so there goes that idea... do you mind keeping it for a little while longer?" He turned to Tony, who shrugged. 

"No problem."

Strange began to put the symbiote back in the box, but not before it got the upper hand for a few good seconds, breaking through his magical bubble, knocking the box off the table and landing on the floor. Tony immediately shoved Peter further behind him while Strange conjured up another magical barrier. He wrapped it up inside another bubble while Tony quickly picked the box up. Strange shoved the creature inside before magically closing the box and locking it. 

The two men let out sighs of relief while Peter watched the box move in Tony's hands. The creature was trying to escape, and Peter honestly felt bad for it. He knew how it felt to be confined in a small space with hardly any hope of escape. It was one of the worst feelings in the world, and he didn't think anything should have to go through a feeling like that. 

"I'll go put this thing back in the vault," Tony said. 

"Here." Strange opened a portal leading into the vault and Tony eyed him. 

"Not sure whether or not that's impressive or a security breach," He admitted. "I'm gonna go with both." He stepped through the portal, and Peter couldn't help but feel obliged to follow. Mr. Stark didn't question it, and just let Peter go with him as he set the box back on its shelf. 

"What's so dangerous about it, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, watching as the box threw itself back and forth with anger. 

"Not sure," He answered. "But Strange said it's dangerous, so it's dangerous. Don't go near it, got it, kid?" He asked.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to, high security vault, remember?" 

Tony rolled his eyes at the kid's snark, wondering if Peter had picked that up from him. 

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah, kid?"

Peter rubbed the back of his head before answering. "What if it's not dangerous? I mean... I know Doctor Strange said it was and all, but it seemed to me like it was just scared," He said. "I mean, it didn't really seem like it wanted to hurt anyone, just like it wanted to get away." 

Tony considered this for a moment before shrugging. "Strange said it's dangerous, and I'm gonna trust him on it," He said. "You should, too."

Peter sighed before nodding, not wanting to argue with Mr. Stark anymore on the subject. "Come on, kid, it's almost six, you've gotta be home before your aunt drives herself up here and kicks my ass." He gestured for Peter to follow him back through the portal. Peter did.

***

Later that evening when Peter left the compound, he thought he left alone. 

He was unaware of the stowaway hidden in his backpack. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm churning out chapters because I'm feeling inspired haha. Also because I really want to get to the good stuff with Peter and Tony. I hope this chapter wasn't trash because I kind of feel like it was.


	4. Venom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter meets the stowaway in his backpack

_**Venom** _

 

When Peter got back to his apartment, he was exhausted. Hanging out with Mr. Stark all day was one of his favorite things to do, and when Doctor Strange showed up for a surprise visit, that was always cool. But the one thing Peter enjoyed doing more than Avengers stuff was sleep. It was one of his favorite past times. So, when he got back to his room around seven-thirty in the evening, he wanted to pass out. But, he had a bit more to do before his aunt got back from her shift. 

Peter fished his suit out of his backpack, unaware of the black mass that had made itself comfortable on the fabric. He slipped into his suit and swung out the window, ready to patrol Queens for the next few hours. Aunt May wouldn't be back until around eleven o'clock, so he had until around that time. His aunt knew about his powers, and about his vigilante nature--but she had established a few strict ground rules:

Rule #1: Peter was never to go after a criminal more dangerous than a mugger by himself unless he was absolutely sure he would be able to handle it. If he had even the slightest of doubts, he was to call Tony Stark for help. (Peter didn't really follow this rule most of the time; he hated to bother Mr. Stark, especially late at night when he was usually out patrolling.) 

Rule #2: He had to give May hourly updates about his location and what was going on. If May didn't hear from Peter each hour, she would call Tony Stark and have him go look for Peter. It seemed silly, but May was paranoid about losing her nephew. Peter understood her concerns, so he sucked it up and sent her a text each hour letting her know that he was safe. 

Rule #3: Always be home before her. She hated coming home to an empty apartment, especially when she was exhausted from a long shift at work. When May got home at night, she wanted to go straight to bed, but if Peter wasn't home, she would wait up for him and end up being more tired when she woke up the next day. Peter didn't want to be the cause of his aunt's sleep deprivation, so he did his best to be home before his aunt each night. 

Those were the three big rules that Peter had to follow. He didn't really mind them so much, he understood why his aunt was so concerned with him swinging from the roofs fighting criminals in the dead of night. It would be nerve racking for any parent to worry about. So, Peter followed the rules, if May was happy, then he was happy. 

As Peter swung from building to building, he spoke to the AI in his suit, known as Karen. Karen had been designed by Mr. Stark to be a virtual babysitter for the kid. She was supposed to keep him out of trouble as much as she was able, and if she couldn't, she was the one who notified Mr. Stark that Peter was in trouble. Peter didn't like it when she threatened to call Mr. Stark, it made him feel like a little kid. 

 _"Good evening, Peter,"_ Karen greeted casually.  _"How are you?"_

"I'm good, Karen!" Peter replied enthusiastically. He landed on a nearby roof with a thud! and then turned to look out over the New York skyline. It was a sight he would never get bored by. "Man, I wish I had a camera." He murmured to himself before sitting down, swinging his legs back and forth. "So, Karen, what does Queens have for me in store tonight?" 

The AI was silent for a moment before replying. _"I'm not picking up any local chatter on the police radios, I believe everything is quiet for now,"_ She said. Peter sighed in disappointment. He didn't like the fact that there were criminals crawling the streets of New York, but he couldn't lie and say they didn't make his life a bit more interesting.  _"Peter, are you aware of the black mass that has attached itself to the back of your suit?"_ Karen asked. 

Peter leapt up at the mention of this. "What?!" He demanded, ripping his mask off and trying to get a good look at his back. He saw the black mass on his back and held his breath. This was the thing that had been locked away in the vault at the Avengers compound. The thing Doctor Strange had been trying to get rid of! What the heck was it doing on the back of Peter's Spider-Man suit?! He slipped the mask back on. "Karen, what the hell is that thing?"

 _"I am unsure, Peter,"_ The AI answered.  _"I am running a diagnostic scan on it, but my scanners have never seen anything quite like it before. It seems to be..."_

"Let me guess, not from this planet?" Peter asked rhetorically before sighing and taking the mask off. He didn't have any other clothes on underneath his suit, but he needed to get the weird alien thing off his back and get it back to the compound before Mr. Stark realized it was gone. Peter thought he heard Karen say something about calling Mr. Stark, but Peter quickly shut that idea down and decided to take care of it himself. 

He jumped from the roof of the building and found a secluded alleyway where no one would see him in the suit--or taking it off. 

Peter hit the spider on the center of his suit and felt it suddenly hang off his body as though it were three sizes too big for him. He slipped out of the suit and examined the black alien thing on the back of it. He furrowed his eyebrows curiously before reaching out and--

 _"Peter, I do not think it is wise to touch it with your bare hands."_ Karen suddenly stopped him.  _"I suggest contacting Mr. Stark and informing him--"_

"What? No!" Peter exclaimed. "Karen, I can do this myself. We don't need to bother Mr. Stark, okay? I just need to get this thing off of my suit and back into the compound and everything will be fine." He didn't bother to wait for a response from Karen before he reached out and grabbed the black mass. It was sticky, which was not something Peter had been expecting. He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he began trying to rip it from his suit. 

Suddenly, he heard a hiss of what Peter thought sounded like pain. The black mass--what had Doctor Strange called it? Symbiote! The symbiote hissed again and Peter winced. "Sorry!" He told it. "I'm just trying to get you off my suit... I kinda need it for patrol." 

Peter shook his head and silently laughed to himself. What was he doing, trying to talk to this thing? It didn't speak English, or at least, Peter highly doubted that it did, considering it was from a different planet. Both Doctor Strange and Mr. Stark had told him that this symbiote thing was dangerous, but as far as Peter could tell, it just seemed sad and hurt. 

"Uh... so I know you probably can't understand me, but if you can, you can let go of my suit," Peter said gently. "I promise I won't hurt you, I just wanna help." 

A few moments went by where neither Peter nor the symbiote moved. But then, suddenly, there was a thick wet noise and then Peter's suit was free from the symbiote's grasp. It stuck to the palm of Peter's hand, which Peter eyed curiously. "Huh, it's kinda like slime," He mused to no one in particular. "I already know what you are--I mean, sort of--but who are you? Assuming alien symbiote's even have names..." 

The symbiote hissed softly, and Peter almost dropped it in shock (thought he was pretty sure he couldn't have dropped it even if he wanted to). "W-wait, did you just...? Did you just  _say_ something?" Peter asked. "Say it again!" 

_"...Venom..."_

Peter tilted his head and looked at the creature. "Venom?" He asked. His eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Is that your name? Your name is Venom?" 

_"Yes..."_

The young hero could have jumped ten feet in the air with excitement. This symbiote--Venom--could speak! It understood him! He had to tell Mr. Stark--except that he couldn't. If he told Mr. Stark about Venom being able to talk, then he would know that Peter had somehow taken it from the vault. Mr. Stark would be  _so_ mad. 

Realizing he was still in his underwear, Peter slipped the suit back on and let Venom dangle from his hand. "I'm Peter," He said to the symbiote. "How did you get onto my suit anyway?" 

 _"...The box...it broke...so I left..."_ Venom let out in a hiss. Peter would have found it unnerving that the symbiote hissed everything he said if he didn't find it so freaking cool! Oh man, what would Ned say? He would say it was the coolest freaking thing he had ever seen in his entire life, that much was for sure. Peter grinned thinking about his friend's reaction.

"Huh... so you must have climbed into my backpack when we were leaving the vault," Peter figured. "You wanted to escape... no wonder, considering what Doctor Strange was doing to you with his magic." Peter realized he was rambling. "You don't seem so dangerous to me, Venom."

 _"Thank you...Peter,"_ Venom said. 

"No problem! That's what friends do." The teen answered.

_"Yes...friends..."_

"Hey, so, I've gotta finish my patrol, but you're welcome to hang out with me until I can figure out what to do about you--maybe help you get home somehow... not sure yet, but I bet I can figure something out." Peter rambled as he pulled his mask on over his face. He continued to ramble on about helping Venom, and promising that he wouldn't let either Doctor Strange or Mr. Stark hurt him. Venom was beginning to like this one...

_"Friends..."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Venom is kinda friends with Peter now? Well, not really friends, more like Venom wants to use Peter as a host body but it's fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.


	5. Peter's Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter introduces Ned to Venom, all while beginning to influence Peter's thinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah so this is the first chapter where there is some dialogue taken from the comic that this was inspired by, so I'm giving @pinetrees_ on Instagram another shoutout because he deserved ALL of the love for coming up with this amazing comic. I loved it so much that now I'm making a fic inspired by it lol

**_Peter's Friends_ **

 

Peter went back to school the following Monday after his eventful weekend with Venom. The symbiote had been staying with Peter in his bedroom for the past two days, and Peter had been learning all about Venom. He thought the symbiote was actually pretty interesting, and had many stories to tell. Though, usually Peter was the one who spoke, and Venom popped in every now and again to answer a question that Peter had asked. 

"So you're really from outer space?" Peter asked.

_"I am."_

"That's so cool!" 

The two shared many conversations together that weekend before school started again. One conversation in particular stuck with Peter as he got ready for school that Monday morning...

"So do you like... eat?" Peter had asked Venom as they sat atop the roof of a building while Peter was on patrol. The young hero had stopped at Mr. Delmar's to get a patrol snack and had been munching on his sandwich when he decided to offer some to his new friend. 

 _"Not in the way you do,"_ Venom answered. 

Peter furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "So how?"

_"I feed on natural chemicals, like adrenaline, endorphins, hormones, and other things..."_

"Oh, that's... cool?"

_"It's completely safe, Peter..."_

 

 

Peter threw a t-shirt on over his head and grabbed his backpack off his bed. He was just about to head out to the kitchen to grab something quick to eat when he noticed the stowaway stuck to his backpack. "Venom, I don't think you should come to school with me," He said, facing the black symbiote towards himself. "It's not safe for you there, plus people might ask questions."

Venom raised his... head(?) and looked at Peter.  _"I won't cause any trouble, Peter..."_ His voice was calm and smooth, just as always.  _"I don't want to be left here by myself all day..."_

The teen sighed before shrugging in defeat. "All right, fine, but if you're going to go with me you have to hide. Here." Peter held his hand out and let the symbiote crawl on. Peter opened up the front pocket of his backpack and slipped the symbiote inside. "There, that way no one will be able to see you." He grinned. "And if you need anything, just let me know... but be subtle about it, okay?" Peter didn't wait for a response before he zipped the pocket up and headed out of his room.

May had already left for work early that morning and had left a note on the counter, just as she always did:

_Peter,_

_There's toast in the toaster--eat something!_

Smiling, the young hero grabbed the toast from the toaster and shoved it in his mouth. He grabbed a couple of dollars for his lunch and then bounded out of the apartment building and towards the subway. 

Venom was seated comfortably in the front pocket of Peter's backpack. He was very glad that he and Peter had become friends as quickly as they had. He knew that Peter was well equipped to handle himself, but he couldn't help but feel responsible for the boy and his wellbeing. Peter had saved Venom's life, and it only seemed fair that the symbiote repaid the favor by protecting Peter himself. 

 

When Peter got off the subway at his school, he found his best friend in the world, Ned Leeds, waiting for him outside the door just like he always did. Ned was grinning from ear to ear and bouncing on his toes excitedly. "Peter, guess what?!" Ned exclaimed.

"What's up, man?" Peter asked.

"My mom just got me a new Lego Millennium Falcon set!" 

"Whoa, no way, how many pieces?"

"Three-thousand!" 

The pair high fived at this awesome achievement. They were going to have to get together as soon as possible so they could start building it. They had already finished rebuilding Ned's Lego Death Star several months ago and since then, the boys had been itching to start a new project. This was going to be awesome! 

Venom listened from inside his pocket with intrigue. Whoever this Ned person was, he was important to Peter. Venom decided he wouldn't let any harm come to Peter's other friend, either. 

 

The school day went on without a hitch, and Peter was honestly very glad for that. He was afraid something would go terribly wrong for him, like it usually did, and he would have to leave school to go be a superhero--not that he didn't love being Spider-Man, he just also loved NOT failing his Spanish quizzes. 

At lunch, Peter couldn't keep his secret a secret from Ned any longer. So, while they were walking to the cafeteria for lunch, Peter pulled Ned into the nearest boy's restroom, leaving Ned utterly confused. "Dude, what's going on?" He asked, and then his eyes lit up excitedly. "Is this about Spider-Man? Do you need me to be your guy in the chair again?!" 

"What? No, Ned, listen!" Peter said. "I've got the coolest thing ever in my backpack right now."

"What is it?"

Peter set his backpack down and carefully unzipped the pocket where Venom was hiding. He reached in and allowed the symbiote to crawl onto his hand. Peter held it up for Ned to see, who raised an eyebrow at Peter. "You brought me in here to show me your new slime? Dude, we're not twelve." 

"It's not slime!" Peter laughed. "He's an alien symbiote! See?" 

Venom began to move around on the palm of Peter's hand and then looked up at Ned. Ned, being the kid he was, jumped back startled and nearly let out a scream. Venom tilted what Peter considered to be his head and then looked at Peter.  _"This is your friend, Ned."_

Peter nodded. "Yep."

Ned's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in shock. "Wait, wait, wait... that thing can talk?!" He exclaimed as quietly as he could. "That is so  _awesome_! And he's an alien? Like from outer space?"

"Yeah, that's what he told me," Peter replied. "Oh, and his name is Venom." 

"No way."

"Way."

Ned jumped up and down excitedly as he looked over the symbiote. "Mr. Venom, it is so cool to meet you! Holy shit this is the coolest day of my life. And he can talk, that's literally so cool--where did you find him?" 

Peter laughed nervously before scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "Well, see, that's actually an interesting story..." Peter said while Ned raised an eyebrow at his friend. "I, uh, he  _was_ locked up at the Avengers compound, but he sort of hitched a ride with me on my backpack to escape..."

There was silence for a moment while Ned seemed mull over this in his head. Peter waited for Ned's response and glanced at Venom, who seemed somewhat concerned. "So... Venom was locked up in the Avengers compound..." Ned said slowly. "He escaped by riding your backpack out...  Peter, did you ever consider that maybe he was locked up for a reason?" 

Venom's opinion about Ned suddenly began very different. He slid up Peter's arm and found himself resting on Peter's shoulders. 

"Well, yeah, Mr. Stark said he was dangerous, and so did Doctor Strange, but I honestly think they jumped to conclusions." Peter shrugged, hardly noticing how Venom was suddenly becoming stuck against his skin. "I've been hanging out with him all weekend, and he's super cool. All he wants is to get home, and I'm gonna try to help him."

"I think you should tell Mr. Stark that you have him," Ned said, but Peter quickly shook his head no.

"If I do that, Mr. Stark will just lock him back up!" He exclaimed. "Ned, Doctor Strange and Mr. Stark were trying to get rid of him! As in they were trying to kill him! I can't let that happen, especially when I know that Venom isn't really the bad guy here!" 

Ned sighed. "But, Peter, don't you trust the actual  _superheroes_ over the thing--alien thing--that they said is dangerous?" He asked. "All I'm saying is that maybe you should trust the word of two people we already trust as opposed to the one of the thing from outer space that you've only known for two days."

And then Peter's expression suddenly darkened. He felt angry, angrier than he had in a long time. What the hell did Ned know? And who was he to tell him who to listen to? If Peter trusted Venom, then that should have been enough for Ned, but it  _wasn't._ Why couldn't Ned just believe him?! 

"Oh please, just because I'm not a kiss ass like you doesn't mean I don't know how to judge character," Peter hissed. 

Ned's eyes suddenly widened when he realized what Peter had said. "Look, dude, I'm not trying to--"

"Just shut up, Ned!" Peter growled. " _I_ trust Venom, and that should be enough for you to trust him, too!" He snatched up his backpack and began storming towards the bathroom door before Ned grabbed his arm.

"Peter! I do trust you, but you're not acting like yourself!" Ned exclaimed.

"Leave me the fuck alone, Ned, I don't fucking need this right now." 

With that, Peter left the bathroom and started walking down the hallway. Ned was following close behind him, trying to apologize, but Peter didn't hear him. He could only hear Venom. 

 _"You don't need him, Peter, you have me..."_ The symbiote said.  _"Thank you for defending me."_

"Yeah, well, that's what friends do for each other." Peter shrugged.

"Hey,  _Penis_ Parker!"  

Peter stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Flash's voice from down the hall. For years, all Flash had done was torment him, call him names, pick on him... and for what? Because Peter didn't have as much money as he did? Because he knew Peter wouldn't fight back? Or he didn't expect him to, anyway. But today, today Peter had had enough. He was tired of everyone pushing him around, and that's when he snapped.

The teen turned on his heels and stormed up to Flash, a murderous rage in his eyes that Flash hadn't seen before and it honestly scared him. 

"Shut the  _fuck up,_ Flash," Peter growled. "Sorry you have nothing better to do than pick a fight with me because you're insecure about your own intelligence, but I don't have the fucking time or patience to deal with your bullshit today. So do everyone here a favor and shut your fat mouth before you say something stupid again."

Flash was left in shock as he watched Peter go. Ned stared, wondering whether to be proud or concerned. 

Peter knew he couldn't stay in the school any longer. He began to walk down the halls towards the front door when he spotted Michelle standing near her locker with either an impressed or shocked look on her face. He wanted to say something to her to let her know that he was fine, but he was still to angry at... at  _everything_ so he kept walking, leaving his friends and enemies in shock as they watched him go.

The school doors slammed shut behind him and Ned had no idea what he was supposed to do. "Shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOOH things are getting reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll


	6. Angry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter keeps getting angrier and angrier...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH: I changed the ending of the last chapter because I didn't want to rush things. Just an update.

**_Angry_ **

 

Over the course of the week, Peter and Venom began to get better acquainted with one another. Peter told Venom practically everything that had happened to him in the recent years, including the events that led up to him becoming Spider-Man. Venom was a very good listener, and he never criticized Peter for anything he had done in the past. Peter was glad to have a friend that didn't question everything he did and trusted his judgement. 

Peter hadn't spoken to Ned since they had their big fight, though his friend had been texting him nonstop since Monday. Avoiding Ned at school was a bit difficult, but not impossible. They shared a few classes together, but there was no assigned seating in any of them, so it was pretty easy to distance himself from others. Peter had been sitting further and further in the backs of his classes, and had begun to pay less attention to his teachers. Venom was just so much more interesting than anything he was learning about. 

The end of the week was getting closer and closer, and Peter couldn't have been more excited. He and Venom were going to have a lot of fun this weekend. Peter planned to take the symbiote with him out on patrol, as he had been doing each night since they met. Instead of riding in Peter's backpack like he did at school, Venom was allowed to ride on Peter's shoulders during patrol. Peter thought it would be safer that way. 

That Friday when the school bell rang at the end of the day, Peter was gathering his things from his locker. He'd had a pretty good week, especially since he'd blown up on Flash that previous Monday. Ever since then, no one had been too keen to bother him. It was great. Of course, things couldn't stay perfect forever, so when Michelle Jones and Ned came walking up to him at his locker, Peter knew he was in for it. 

"What's up, dork?" MJ asked, folding her arms across her chest. 

Peter could tell that MJ was trying to be casual, but knew she was also planning on asking him why he had been such a jerk to Ned on Monday. He wasn't really in the mood to get scolded, so he simply ignored her and continued to pack up his things for the weekend. When MJ realized this, she scowled. "You gonna ignore me all day or are you gonna say hello?" She asked.

Huffing, Peter turned to face her and Ned. "Look, I'm not in the mood for a lecture, MJ," He said. 

"Who said I was gonna lecture you?" 

Peter rolled his eyes and turned away again. He could hear Venom whispering to him to get out of there so they could go on patrol. "I'm trying," Peter whispered back as he closed his locker. 

"What?" MJ asked, having overheard what he said to Venom. 

Peter glanced at Ned, who had remained quiet this whole time, not saying anything. Ned and Peter had never really fought before, so they weren't exactly sure how they were supposed to fix it. Peter didn't really care all that much, but Ned was tired of not talking to the person he considered to be his best friend. "Peter, you haven't been yourself lately." Ned knew why, but hadn't said anything to anyone. He didn't want to risk getting Peter in trouble with Mr. Stark and he also didn't want to upset Peter more than he already had. So Ned had kept his friend's secret, but he wasn't sure if it had been the right call. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Peter swung his backpack over his shoulder and turned on his heel to walk away. 

Ned and MJ exchanged a look and then MJ marched right up to Peter, grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face her. "What the hell is your problem, man?" She snapped. "Ned told me how you've been ignoring him all week, and don't think I haven't noticed how different you've been acting, either. You're not paying attention in class, and you've missed every single decathlon practice this week. You don't get to flake on us and then act like a dick for no reason." 

 _"Don't let her talk to you like that, Peter..."_ Venom hissed. 

"You don't get to talk to me like that, Michelle." Peter snapped, knowing that not using MJ's nickname would upset her. "It's none of your damn business, anyway. I haven't been showing up to decathlon practice because I have  _better_ things to do than waste my time with the rest of you losers. I don't know if you've noticed, but I've got responsibilities that are way more important than some stupid decathlon meeting. So leave me the hell alone about it!" 

MJ was speechless, which was not an easy task to accomplish. Peter didn't have time to register exactly what he had said to her before she shoved him out of her way and stormed out of the school, her eyes watering. Ned began to rush after her but stopped next to Peter for a split second. "Get rid of it, Peter, it's changing you." With those words, Ned ran after MJ to make sure she was all right, leaving Peter alone in the hallway. 

He sighed and then ran his hand over his face in exasperation. "I can't believe I said that to MJ!" He exclaimed, suddenly shocked. "Oh, shit, I have to go apologize--"

 _"You don't have to feel sorry for what you said, Peter,"_ Venom said.  _"She was pushing you around, she doesn't get to talk to you like that..."_

"I-I mean, I guess you're right..."

_"Yes... now come, let's go on patrol... you don't want to miss it..."_

Peter nodded, the guilt he felt for what he said to MJ was gone again and he walked out of the school.

***

Being Spider-Man for a few hours always calmed Peter down. Swinging from building to building, hearing Karen's voice in his ear--it always put him at ease. And with Venom with him, it was ten times better. Peter had never felt more relaxed in his whole life. So far that night, he had stopped someone from stealing a bicycle, two muggings, and a shoplifter. He was feeling pretty accomplished.

 _"Good job tonight, Peter."_ Karen's voice was smooth and kind. 

Peter grinned. "Thanks, Karen!" He replied. "Got anything else for me?" 

 _"I don't,"_ She responded.  _"Your aunt should be getting home soon, perhaps it's time for you to turn in for the night."_

"Ah, c'mon, Karen, I can stay out a little while longer!" 

_"I would not suggest--"_

_"Peter can do whatever he likes,"_ Venom spoke up.  _"He is the hero, after all... you are not the one calling the shots..."_

 _"Peter, I don't think it's wise to keep the symbiote from Mr. Stark's attention any longer,"_  Karen said.  _"Perhaps I should call him?"_

"No!" He exclaimed. "Venom isn't dangerous, Karen, Jesus Christ! Why does no one believe me?!" He was getting angry, and Venom liked it. "He's not some monster, he's not here to hurt anybody! He just wants to get home, and if I take him back to Mr. Stark, then he's gonna kill him! So no, I'm not telling Mr. Stark about him, not now, and probably not ever! So just stop bugging me about it, all right?!"

 _"Peter, you need to calm down--"_ Karen tried.

Fed up, Peter spoke before he could think. "Karen, go into shut down mode." He snapped. Suddenly, it was silent in his suit, just like it had been when he first got it. By the time Peter realized what he had done, it was too late. He had no idea how to turn Karen back on, or even if he could. "Shit." 

 _"It's all right, Peter..."_ Venom said.  _"You have me, you don't need the AI anymore..."_

With a sigh, the young teen nodded. "Yeah, yeah you're right," He said. 

Suddenly, Peter heard someone down the street let out a scream. He grinned underneath his mask, finally! Some action! 

He made sure that Venom was secure on his shoulders before launching himself off the building and swinging towards the screams. He found himself in front of a small convenient store. Through the glass windows, Peter could see a man wearing a black ski mask and holding a gun in his hand. He was trying to rob the store, and it made Peter angry. 

He stormed in, shooting a web at the guy's hands and snatching the gun away from him in one quick movement. "What the--?" The robber didn't' have time to finish his sentence before Peter had wrapped him up in his webs and thrown him through the store window out onto the pavement. The robber gasped, having not expected such a hard throw. He trembled in fear as Spider-Man marched up to him, holding the gun in his hands. 

"How the hell would you like it if I pointed a gun at your head, huh?" Peter demanded, holding the gun up and pointing it at the robber. "Not so fun, is it?" 

"P-please, don't hurt me!" The robber squealed. "It's not even loaded, swear to God! You can check yourself!"

"I don't give a shit if it's loaded or not," Peter growled. He raised the gun and swung it at the robber, clocking him across the face with the gun. Venom grinned from his spot on Peter's shoulder. 

Peter hit him again and again and again, he hit him until his face was barely recognizable, and then for good measure, knocked him out. Peter was breathing heavily by the time it was over, and he also noticed a small crowd had gathered. They were talking about him, gasping at what Spider-Man had just done. People were taking pictures and  undoubtedly posting them all over the internet. 

Surprisingly, Peter didn't care. Let the world know how he had beat this guy up, maybe it would persuade other criminals to think about what they were gonna do before they did it next time.

***

By the time Peter finally crawled back into his bedroom, it was well past one in the morning. May had been up since eleven o'clock waiting for her nephew to return, so when she heard his bedroom door quietly close, she leapt to her feet and stormed into his room without knocking. Peter had just begun to take his suit off when she barged in. "May, what the hell?!" He exclaimed.

She was furious. "Peter Benjamin Parker!" She snapped. "Where the  _hell_ have you been?!" 

Peter rolled his eyes, grabbed a t shirt and pulling it over his head. "May, can we not do this right now? I'm really tired."

May was fuming, her eyes filled with rage and fear. "No, we can do this now!" She replied. "I've been home for hours, waiting up for you! You know my rules, Peter! You have to be home before me! I don't ask for a lot, but I do ask you to follow--"

"Oh,  _shut up,_ May!" Peter said without thinking. "Those rules are so stupid! I did fine as Spider-Man without them, I don't need a list of damn rules telling me how and when I'm allowed to save people! Or maybe you forgot that I'm out there SAVING LIVES?!" May didn't respond, too shocked by her nephew's outrage to say anything. "I don't need your rules, and you know what? I don't need  _you!_ "

When he was through, Peter was panting, but Venom was as happy as could be.  _This_ was the person Venom had been trying to get Peter to be. Venom liked this new side to Peter, it was just what he had been looking for!

The hurt in May's eyes was obvious, but Peter wasn't going to apologize. When she realized that, May nodded and turned away. "I'm sorry you feel that way." She left his room, closing his door behind her. 

Peter sighed and sat on the bottom bunk of his bed. He ran a hand through his hair and laid down. 

 _"I'm proud of you, Peter..."_ Venom spoke up softly.

"Yeah, you seem to be the only person who is," He replied. "But thanks."

_"Of course... that's what friends are for..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but dAMN Peter is just blowing up left and right!!! Expect some major Tony and Peter feels in the next chapter!


	7. Saturdays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's weekly visit to the Avengers compound doesn't go exactly as planned...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH! It's been forever since I updated! Sorry about the long wait, guys! This is where the comic really starts to be included in the story, so the dialogue between Peter and Tony at the end belongs to @pinetrees_ from instagram! Go follow him and check out his content!

_**Saturdays** _

 

They used to be Peter’s favorite day of the week. He always, always looked forward to spending time with Mr. Stark and working with him in his lab. Suit upgrades were always what the teen looked forward to the most. 

But that Saturday, Peter wasn’t excited. He didn’t want to wake up early on his first day off all week to go and do more work. He didn’t want to go upstate, he didn’t want to interact with Happy or even with Mr. Stark—especially with Mr. Stark. 

What if Mr. Stark realized Venom was gone and Peter slipped up? What if Peter accidentally gave his friend’s location away? There were so many what ifs... and Peter’s head was swimming with possibilities of mess-ups. 

Venom wanted to go with Peter—Peter wanted Venom to stay in his bedroom that day. “It’s just too dangerous this time, Venom,” Peter said. “Mr. Stark could realize you’re gone and then find you... or Doctor Strange could show up...” 

But the symbiote wasn’t having it. Venom was going to accompany Peter upstate even if it killed him. 

So when Happy showed up at eight in the morning that Saturday, Peter had no choice but to bring Venom with him. The symbiote was clinging to the back of Peter’s neck, and as weird as it was, Peter was used to the odd sensation he felt whenever Venom was on his neck. It was oddly comforting for the teenager. Whenever he felt alone, he knew that he wasn't really, not with Venom around. 

"Morning, Peter," Happy said as Peter climbed into the car. 

"Morning," Peter mumbled back his somewhat sleepy response. Or at least Happy assumed he was just sleepy, he had no idea that the trip upstate was what was really worrying the kid. 

 _"Don't worry, Peter, everything will be fine..."_ Venom tried to sooth Peter's nerves. It helped somewhat, knowing that Peter had a friend there to help him today. Though it also made him nervous, because if Mr. Stark found out that Venom was with him... Peter would never be allowed upstate again and Venom would likely be killed. 

Happy kept a close eye on the kid as they drove upstate. Peter had been acting odd the last time Happy saw him, so the man had every reason to be worried about him. Though, Happy would never admit that--being worried about Peter? Please, if the kid ever heard those words cross his lips, he'd never hear the end of it. But he kept a close eye on Peter nonetheless. 

When they arrived at the compound, Peter was a nervous wreck. He was sweating profusely, but tried his hardest not to let it show. He grabbed his backpack and quickly left the car, leaving Happy's company without so much as a word to the man.

 _"Do not worry, Peter, I am here to help you..."_ Venom said. 

That helped calm his nerves slightly. He took a deep breath and entered the lab. Tony was there waiting, as usual. The older man glanced up as the door opened and Peter walked in. He grinned a bit and gestured for Peter to come join him. "Kid, I think I figured out how to add repulsers to the Iron Spider suit without interfering with the suit's mainframe like I was telling you about last week," Tony said, somewhat excitedly.

Peter cautiously approached Tony, wringing his hands together, hoping the billionaire wouldn't notice anything odd about his demeanor. He didn't really want to be there that day, with Venom hiding on his shoulder, he felt exposed and in danger. It was odd, to say the least, he usually felt safe around Tony... but knowing that the billionaire wanted to hurt Venom... he just couldn't help but feel in danger himself. 

Tony glanced up at the kid and raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay, kid?" He asked, setting his tool down and spinning in his chair to face Peter, who nodded immediately. 

"Y-yeah! I'm fine, don't worry about me, Mr. Stark!" 

The older man squinted at him, but shrugged, seemingly accepting this answer. Peter breathed a quiet sigh of relief and their day continued as usual. 

***

Things were actually going well, as far as Peter could tell. Venom seemed calm, and in turn, Peter was calm. That was, until, Tony got the alert from F.R.I.D.A.Y

 _"Boss, an attack is taking place in Manhattan at the Bank of New York Mellon,"_ The AI said. _"The perpetrators appear to have advanced weapons, possibly recovered from the aftermath of the war."_

Peter froze. He hated more than anything remembering his time in space, he had died after all. It was so weird to think about. Peter didn't have all of the details of what had happened to him and the others when Thanos snapped, but Tony had mentioned something about magic and the soul stone, and time travel? Peter shook his head; he tried to keep those memories blocked out.

"Right, we're on our way." Tony got to his feet, hitting a button on his phone, one that Peter knew would call his suit to him. He looked over at Peter expectantly. "Come on, kid, time to play hero." 

The kid's eyes widened. "Who, me?" He asked, surprised. 

Tony rolled his eyes. "No shit, kid. Come on, Spider-Man, we don't have all day." 

 _"Do not worry, Peter... I will be with you..."_ Venom whispered in the young hero's ear. 

With that, Peter nodded, jumping to his feet and grabbing his suit. Time to be a hero!

***

The bank was most definitely under attack. When Peter and Tony came rolling up to the party, the two heroes decided that they needed to act fast, or these guys weren't just going to escape with the money, but were possibly going to bring down a few buildings with them. Using his suit, Peter was able to get a close up on what was going on inside. He could see the robbers with their high tech weapons, and they were holding the clerks from the bank hostage. Hostages... they were taking hostages... it made Peter's blood boil.

"Okay, we need to be smart about this," Tony said. "F.R.I.D.A.Y, give me all possible outcomes and evaluate what our first move should be."

Peter turned to Iron Man. "We don't have time for that!" He exclaimed, and he couldn't believe he was snapping at his mentor. "Those people are freaking the hell out in there, we can blast through the doors and take the robbers out before they can do shit!" 

Tony turned to Peter and his face plate came up. "Kid, as much as I want to go in guns blazing, that's the last thing we wanna do," He replied. "We can't risk those people getting hurt and barging in will ensure that they do."

"You can't know that for sure!" Peter scowled under the mask. 

It was Tony's turn to scowl. "Uh, I can, and I do," He said. "Kid, I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but you need to calm down and trust me on this one."

"No!" Peter honestly couldn't believe what he was saying, but it was too late to stop now. "If you won't help them, then _I_ will!" 

"Spider-Man, stop!" Tony tried, but it was too late, Peter had swung into action.

He kicked through the bank's window, shattering the glass, and landed on his feet in a crouching position. He could tell he had taken the robbers off guard, but they quickly regained their stature and raised their weapons. "Surrender now, and I promise I won't hurt you guys too bad!" Peter yelled.

The robbers laughed and fired their weapons at him. Peter, using his spider senses, was able to easily dodge the blasts. He ran towards who he could only assume was the lead guy, or at least the guy with the biggest gun, and shot webs at his feet. He pulled at the webs and knocked the guy down, but not before his weapon could go off. It had been fired in the direction of the hostages. "NO!" Peter yelled, but before he could do anything, something blocked the blast, and the hostages were safe again. 

Behind the shield was Iron Man. "Spider-Man, we are  _so_ having a discussion after this!" The older man snapped. He held up his hands and blasted the robber who was coming towards them, sending him flying back. 

 _"Peter... let me lend you my strength..."_ Venom whispered in the teen's ear. 

Peter considered this for a moment, but didn't get a chance to give his friend the response he wanted to hear before he was under attack again. Peter was knocked to the ground as one of the robbers whacked him in the face with his weapon. Peter grunted as he hit the ground, but that had only made him angry.

With a newfound fury, the young hero leapt to his feet and used his webs to slam the robber to the ground. He webbed up the man's weapon and had it in his hands in seconds. Peter glanced down at the weapon and then at the robber on the ground. How easy it would be to take care of him with it... all he had to do was aim and shoot... 

The kid suddenly shook his head, eyes wide with fear when he realized what thought had just gone through his head. Why had Peter even  _considered_ something so awful? He would have killed the robber... no, that's not who he was. 

"...ider-Man! Spider-Man!" Peter suddenly snapped back to reality when he realized Tony had been calling his name. Peter blinked, dazed, and then glanced to the side. All of the robbers had been apprehended and were now tied up in the corner with his webs. Peter didn't remember doing that... "Outside. Now." Tony practically growled, and Peter knew he was in for it.

He met Tony up on the roof of the nearest building that would keep them out of the media's eyes. Peter stood, waiting for Tony to explode. The Iron Man mask came up, revealing a very angry Tony Stark. "What the  _hell_ was that, kid?" He demanded, and Peter said nothing. He looked down, not wanting to look his mentor in the eyes. "Kid, look at me, now." Peter winced, but did. "Take the mask off." 

The only thing that was hiding Peter from Tony was the mask. The last thing he wanted to do was take off the mask. But he had to, he had to... so he did. 

He took the mask off, and Tony went off. "Do you know how  _STUPID_ that was, kid?!" Tony demanded. "Do you realize how badly that could have gone? Do you realize that people could have  _died? YOU_ could have died, Peter!" He snapped, and suddenly Peter remembered a very similar conversation he had with Tony... No, this was too similar, Tony was going to take his suit... he wasn't going to let Peter be Spider-Man anymore! 

"I know--I didn't-I wasn't thinking--" Peter tried. 

"Well obviously not!" Tony continued. "I told you to wait for me, I was gonna call the shots on this one, and you didn't listen! Not listening equals people dying, Peter!" 

Venom listened to Tony's remarks hatefully. He couldn't speak to Peter that way, Venom wouldn't allow it. He needed to help... so he ensured that Peter would reveal his true feelings. 

That's when Peter got angry again. He felt it, he felt all of that anger again. He wasn't sure where it had come from, but he was glad it was there. This needed to be said, and Peter wasn't going to let Tony talk to him like that again. 

"Peter!" Tony snapped, as if Peter hadn't been listening, which he probably hadn't. "I don't know what the hell is going on with you, kid, but you need to stop! You don't know what you--"

"SHUT UP!" 

Tony was shocked. The kid had never raised his voice at him before. Never. This was new territory for him.

"SHUT. UP. SHUT UP!" Peter repeated. "YOU'RE NOT MY DAD! I'M NOT YOUR SON!" 

Those words hit Tony like a bullet. He knew that, he knew Peter wasn't his, he knew he wasn't the kid's dad... but damn him to hell if wasn't the closest thing Tony had ever had to son. Peter was angrier than Tony had ever seen him before. He was clenching the mask in his hands like he wanted it to shatter in his grasp, he had an expression on his face that Tony could only describe as pure rage... and he only knew one guy who could get that angry. 

"I'M AN INVESTMENT!" Peter threw the mask at Tony, and the words the kid spoke were shocking. Did Peter really think...? "You only decide to give a shit when your product's faulty! When I fuck everything up so bad you can't ignore it! You don't get to say SHIT about what I do and don't do." Tony thought the kid was done, but oh no, he was just getting started. "I don't need you riding my ass, I don't need this suit, I don't need your validation and I don't need  _you!_ I don't owe you anything!"

"Kid--" Tony tried to reach out to touch Peter's shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him, but that had apparently been the wrong thing to do. 

Peter jerked away. "Don't... TOUCH ME!" He yelled, pushing Tony with enough force to make the man take a few steps back. Tony looked down at his chest plate to find two dents in the shape of Peter's hands. He looked up at the kid, who was now looking at his hands as though he was shocked at what he had just done.  

"Peter--" The kid's eyes began to well with tears, and something inside of Tony broke. "Peter, hold on--it's okay," He tried, but it was too late. The kid shot a web at the nearest building and began to swing away. "PETER!" Tony yelled, but didn't go after him.

Something told him that he would only make things worse. 


	8. Not Healthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is worried about Peter. He thinks he might have an idea what’s wrong, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo people wanted me to continue this so I will.

_**Not Healthy** _

Tony hadn’t left the lab in a while. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. Ever since Peter had left... well, he just didn’t want to screw up the kid’s life anymore. It was better for him to stay in his lab. The lab was safe. He couldn’t hurt anyone from there. 

Of course, his friends didn’t see it that way. Pepper and Rhodes were particularly worried. Pepper had tried to coax Tony out of the lab plenty of times, but nothing was working. Not even when she offered to have date night. Tony just couldn’t face anyone. 

It got to the point where Rhodey decided he’d had enough of Tony’s behavior. So, he tried to get into the lab. Tony got annoyed.

 _“Sir, Colonel Rhodes is requesting lab entry,”_ FRIDAY said. Tony groaned and placed the screwdriver he’d had in his mouth on the table.  

“FRIDAY, please inform the colonel that the lab’s visiting hours are over—”

 _“He’s issued an override, sir,”_ FRIDAY responded. 

Tony groaned as his friend came into his lab, which he thought he had specifically told people to stay out of for the time being— “Tony.” 

“Rhodey, you ever considered that there are locks for a reason?” Tony asked sarcastically, not bothering to look over at the colonel, who had his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Tony knew his friends were mad at him—he knew they were worried and they were only trying to do what was in his best interests. But dammit, if it wasn’t annoying... 

“What? So you can hide from everyone and sulk like a child for two weeks?” Rhodey responsed shortly, causing Tony to flinch slightly, but he didn’t let his friend know that.

”I prefer to call it ‘brooding.’”

“Well Pepper calls it unhealthy,” Rhodey said. “Seriously, Tony, you need to get over it. He’s a teenager, teenagers lash out; it’s what they do.” 

But Tony didn’t see it that way. Peter had never acted so... angry towards him before. Tony had hardly recognized the kid in front of him. And what made it all the worse was that he had caused Peter to cry afterwards. God, how much of a fuck up was he, anyway? 

Being himself, hiding his true feelings from everyone else, Tony nonchalantly kicked himself in his chair across the room and to another desk. 

“That’s not the problem, Rhodey, you didn’t—you weren’t there, you didn’t see it,” Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Peter wasn’t himself, he ISN’T himself... he’s not wearing the suit and he’s been ignoring my calls...” 

Peter never ignored his calls. 

“He looked TERRIFIED, Rhodey...”

His friend walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on Tony’s shoulder. “You’re letting this get to your head,” He said. “Whatever it was, it’s probably passed.” 

“Yeah, I guess...”

”Besides, Peter deserves to blow off some steam every once and a while.” 

But that was the thing, Peter never took his frustration out on anyone else if he could help it. He had just been acting so out of character the past few weeks, Tony couldn’t figure it out... it was like ever since Strange showed up at the compound with—

Tony froze. “Holy shit.” 

Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “What?” 

But Tony ignored him. He was already on his feet sprinting towards his cell phone. He snatched it up and dialed the number. “Come on, pick up, pick up...” He muttered impatiently. Finally, a voice came through. 

“Stark, you had better have a really good reason for calling me in the middle of—“

”Okay, shut up and listen, Doctor Doolittle,” Tony cut him off. “That thing in the box you brought me to look after at the compound, the-the symbiote thing, you said it was extremely dangerous.” 

“I know, I’m still working on a solution—“

”I think it got out. Be here in five seconds.” Tony hung up, and of course, five seconds later a ring of golden sparks appeared in the lab and out walked Stephen Strange. 

Rhodey shook his head. “Nope. Still don’t get the whole magic thing.” 

Strange ignored the Colonel and turned to Tony. “You think it got out? How is that possible?” He asked. “Stupid question because it’s NOT possible—there’s no way.” 

Tony folded his arms across his chest. “Well, let’s go find out, shall we?” He led the way down the hall and to the vault where, sure enough, the box that housed the symbiote sat laying on its side, open. 

Tony and Stephen stared at it, Rhodey just seemed confused. “What exactly is so dangerous about this thing?” Rhodey asked. 

“It’s an alien life form that only has one thing on its to-do list: kill,” Strange replied. “We need to find it. Every second it spends out there, the more people are put in danger—“

”Peter has it,” Tony replied. “I know he does. It would explain everything that’s been happening with him for the past few weeks—“

”I’m sorry, did you say WEEKS?” Strange asked. “Goddammit, this isn’t good. Okay, we need to find Parker—now.” 

“Already on it, Doc. FRIDAY, be a dear and get me a location on Mr. Parker, would you?” Tony asked. 

 _“On it, boss,”_ there was silence for several moments while FRIDAY worked her magic.  _“I have a lock on his location.”_

“Great. Send it to my suit.” Tony was on his way back to the lab, Strange and Rhodey not far behind him. “You guys stay here until I call for backup.”

Strange scoffed at the idea. “Tony, you can’t actually think I’m going to sit here while you go and face that thing alone, can you?” He demanded. “It’s a stupid idea—“

”Look,” Tony spun around and stared Strange down. “That’s my kid out there, okay? I need to try to talk him down first, ALONE. It’ll be easier for me to get through to him if it’s JUST ME. Capiche?” He didnt bother waiting for a response, because he knew Strange wouldn’t bother trying to argue with him. 

Had Tony just called Peter his kid? 

Whatever. That could wait. Right now he had a job to do. Bring Peter home safe before the symbiote thing got what it wanted from him and did something it would definitely regret. 

Mark 65 closed around his body and the internal systems began firing up. “Don’t worry, Pete,” Tony muttered. “I’m coming.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was sort of short but hey I finally updated! More to come


	9. Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter realizes some things and tries to escape, but Venom is not going to let his new host get away so easily.

The church was the place Peter thought to go. He honestly didn’t know why, he didn’t even go to church on a regular basis. He hasn’t been to once since his uncle’s funeral. So it kind of surprised him when he found himself sitting at the top of the bell tower alone.

Well, not alone, actually.

Peter felt terrible. Terrible about the way he had been behaving lately. He had treated his friends like trash, his aunt like she was nothing. And Tony? He had practically kicked him to the curb. The man who had taken him under his wing... helped him become a better hero. God, Peter was horrible.

He stared down at his cell phone at a message from May: ‘I’m working late. Stay safe. Love you <3.’ Peter sighed, his thumbs hovering over the keys, wondering if he should send something back.

 _”Peter.”_ Venom’s voice had become very normal to hear in the back of his mind. But this time, Peter wished he couldn’t hear him. He just wanted Venom to go away... Peter had been acting different since the symbiote showed up. And not a good different. 

 _“I don’t like it here, it doesn’t feel safe,”_ Vemon’s voice was smooth. 

“Well, I like it here,” Peter replied. “I think it’s safe. You don’t have to worry.” 

Vemon didn’t respond, but instead tried to force his way to Peter’s legs and forced him to his feet. Peter gasped and stared down at his legs. “What the hell, Vemon?!” He demanded. “Stop that!” 

 _“I’m only trying to keep us safe, Peter,”_ Vemon said. 

“It’s my body, Vemon! I can keep it safe. So quit controlling my body!” Peter practically snapped. But Vemon didn’t like that. He tried to force Peter to start walking and Peter decided that that was the last straw. “Okay, that’s it.” He lifted his arms and tried to rip the symbiote off of his body, but it didn’t like that. 

 _“STOP!”_ Vemon snapped and used Peter’s own arm to smack the boy across the face, forcing him to his knees. 

Peter gasped. This wasn’t good. This was very not good. If he wanted to get out of this relationship, he was going to have to fight his way out... literally. 

The young hero tried once again to rip the symbiote off of him, but Venom stuck himself, and Peter, against the giant bell behind them and began to pull Peter backwards, pinning his arms down and keeping him from moving. But Peter still tries to struggle. 

 _“I don’t understand!”_ Venom cried.  _“We were PERFECT together!”_ The bell rang loudly as Peter was forcibly shoved against it. 

“Let me go! Let go!” Peter exclaimed. His eyes began to fill with tears. What if he couldn’t escape? What if this was the way his life was going to be now? 

No more late night hangouts with Ned playing Mario Kart and watching Star Wars. No more seeing May and pretending that whatever she had cooked that night for dinner was the best thing he had ever put in his mouth. No more... no more spending time with MJ... No more spending time with Mr. Stark. 

“LET ME GO!” Peter screamed. 

The symbiote covered Peter’s mouth with itself, and Peter felt like crying. His hair fell in front of his eyes and he began to grow weaker. This was not going well at all. 

 _“You can’t leave me, Peter! I NEED YOU!”_ Venom yelled.

That’s when everything went dark. 

***

Tony blasted into the bell tower of the church, not wanting to waste precious seconds. He would pay for the damage later. 

That’s when he spotted it. A large spider web looking black mass of... goop. Tony gagged a bit. He began walking towards it. 

“FRIDAY... what IS that?” The hero asked, looking around for any signs of Peter. 

 _“I don’t know, Boss,”_ The AI replied.  _“I’ve never seen it before.”_

 ~~~~Tony glanced to his right and noticed Peter’s backpack laying on the ground. Fear flared up inside his chest. Peter was here somewhere. But where?

_“But, Boss, I’m detecting a heat signature within the mass...”_

Tony’s heart stopped. “Peter...” 

The black mass began to take shape, and suddenly became a humanoid type... thing. It’s eyes were big, and so was its mouth. Tony took a few steps back, unsure of what to do. And then the damned thing bean to SPEAK. 

_“Hello, Mr. Stark... Peter’s not here now, I’m afraid.”_ __ __ ________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY THIS TOOK SO GODDAMN LONG IM TERRIBLE AT UPDATING


	10. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony fights for Peter.

Tony stared at the black mass of... whatever in front of him. It had Peter inside of it... it was using him as a host. Something like that, anyway. It made Tony sick just to think about. He had to get his kid of out there... NOW. 

He paused. Did he just call Peter his kid AGAIN? Tony shook his head. No time to worry about what he was calling his ki—THE kid right now. First, he needed to save him. 

“Where’s Peter?” Tony demanded. He needed to be 100% sure that Peter was inside that weird ass mass before he tried anything. He didn’t want to hurt him. 

The symbiote began to pace the floor, its tongue flipping around in the air. Tony scrunched up his nose. Why the hell had Peter gone near this thing in the first place? 

 _“Why should I tell you?”_ It replied. 

Tony was just about done with this. “Hm, because I ASKED, and if you don’t tell me, the fine people of this church are gonna have to scrape your sorry gooey ass off the wall.” He growled. 

The symbiote laughed softly. The sound made Tony’s skin crawl, and he was beginning to regret not letting Strange come along with him. 

_“Oh, you don’t want to do that, Mr. Stark.”_

Tony hated the way its voice sounded like Peter’s. He could hear bits and pieces of the kid in there, the way it called him ‘Mr. Stark’ in the same way Peter did... it made him angry. Only the kid got to call him that. 

Okay, that wasn’t true. But that THING sure as hell wasn’t allowed to use Peter to talk to him. No way. 

“Mhm, and why’s that?” Tony demanded, clenching his fists tightly. 

The thing suddenly lashed out, growing about twice it’s previous size and throwing itself towards Tony.  _“BECAUSE HE’S MINE!”_

It shot a piece of itself at Tony and sent him flying into the wall behind him. Tony grunted and his mask came down. Now it was time to get serious. 

Tony and the symbiote both flew out of the bell tower and into the air. Of course, the symbiote couldn’t actually fly... so it tackled Tony midair and began trying to rip his suit open. Tony almost laughed. 

He pointed his repulser at the thing and fired at its head. It screamed in pain as it was torn apart, and Tony got a glance at Peter’s brown hair underneath. “Peter!” Tony yelled, wondering if the kid could even hear him. 

If he could, he didn’t respond. The symbiote grew back around Peter and his hair disappeared from view. 

Tony reaches up and wrapped his hand around the thing’s neck, not wanting to hurt Peter. They both lost their sense of direction and went crashing through the roof of the church. 

“Fuck!” Tony cursed as he was sent flying to the ground, the symbiote had its hands around his neck and was on top of him. 

_“You have no idea what you are dealing with. I am VENOM. I am a symbiote. My power is BEYOND your world!”_

It had some of itself wrapped around Tony’s wrists, pinning him to the ground. And Tony had to admit, the fucker was strong. Tony didn’t have time for this, though. And he didn’t CARE that it was from outer space. He had dealt with aliens before. This asshole was no different. 

“Listen, PAL,” Tony growled, turning his hand to face Venom. “I don’t care WHAT you are, or WHERE you came from... But if you mess with Peter...” He blasted it with his repulser again. “YOU MESS WITH ME!” 

The symbiote, apparently called Venom, quickly backed away after being hit with the blast and swung itself up into the rafters of the church, trying to regain its composure. 

Tony smirked. He had found its weakness. “Not a fan of fire, huh?” He asked, spotting a piece of wood that was on fire. He picked it up. “Okay, I can work with that.”

He used the wood to set one of the pews on fire and then picked it up. He flew up to the rafters and brought the pew down on Venom with all his strength. The symbiote screamed, trying to get as far away from the fire as possible. 

 _“No! Nononono!”_ It began to sink down and used itself to move Peter out of its skin and away from the fire. Peter hung upside down, still stuck in Venom’s goo. 

Tony saw the kid, who seemed relatively unharmed and sighed with relief. But it was strange, was Venom... protecting Peter? Did it move Peter out of the way of harm of the fire? 

Peter’s eyes began to flutter open, and he glanced around, confused. He looked up and saw that he was covered in Venom. He began to panic. 

“Peter!”

The young hero looked to his mentor and his eyes lit up with hope, but he was still terrified. “Mr. Stark- MMF!” Venom used itself to cover Peter’s mouth and to keep the boy silent while it tried to deal with the fire. 

It tried to pull Peter back up into itself, but Tony wasn’t having it. He reached up and grabbed Peter’s wrist and pulled. He wrapped his arms around the kid’s waist, unwilling to let Peter be taken from him again. 

Peter’s eyes were brimming with tears as Tony fought to get the symbiote off of him. 

“LET GO.” Tony demanded slowly, darkly. It scared Peter to see him so angry. Was he mad at Peter for not telling him about Venom? Would he get rid of Peter once this was all over? Would he take away the suit again? Peter’s head was swimming. 

_“NEVER!”_

Tony scowled and blasted at the symbiote again, but it avoided the blast and Tony cursed under his breath. He then looked from the symbiote to Peter. This idea was crazy, which was why it HAD to work. 

Tony held his hand up and pointed the repulser at Peter’s head. “M-Mr. Stark?” Peter’s voice was small and scared and it broke Tony’s heart, but this was the only way to save the kid. 

“I said let go.” He told the symbiote. 

Venom stared at Tony. _“You’re bluffing.”_

“That a risk you’re willing to take?” Tony replies.

Venom hesitated. It didn’t want to let Peter go, but if Tony hurt the kid, then it would hurt Venom, too. He had to protect them both. He released Peter from its hold and suddenly Peter gasped, as though in pain.

The fire grew bigger, and a large rafter collapsed on top of Venom, trapping it. It cried out in pain as the fire made it to its body.

Tony held Peter close to his chest and blasted quickly out of the church. He found the nearest roof and landed, gently setting Peter down, but still holding the boy in his arms, afraid to let go.

Peter opened his eyes and looked at Tony and Tony looked at Peter. They stared at each other for a moment and when Peter finally opened his mouth to speak, Tony cut him off by engulfing him in a hug. 

It surprised Peter at first. Tony had never hugged him before. This was... new. And Peter liked it. He wrapped his arms around his mentor’s neck and held on tight. 

He began to shake, allowing himself to cry into Tony’s shoulder. “I-I’m sorry... I’m sorry...” He cried. 

“Shh, it’s okay, bud,” Tony replied softly. “It’s okay...” he looked back over to the church. The firefighters had arrived and were beginning to put the fire out. The smoke climbed high into the sky and Tony relaxed a bit knowing that thing was still trapped inside. 

“It’s over.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOT THE LAST CHAPTER!


	11. Glad You’re Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things begin to go back to normal.

Now that Peter was safe and away from Venom, Tony was able to contact Doctor Strange, who arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and locked the symbiote back into the magically warded box that it had escaped from earlier. Peter felt guilt bubbling up inside of him as he sat in the Avengers compound, waiting for both Doctor Strange and Mr Stark to come back upstairs. 

He tapped his foot nervously and fiddled with his fingers. He should have told Mr Stark about Venom as soon as he realized what was happening, but Peter had been stupid and reckless. What if Mr Stark took his suit away again? What if they realized that Peter wasn’t good enough to be a superhero and they kicked him out? 

These thoughts riddled his head for several more minutes until he heard the familiar footsteps of Mr Stark and Doctor Strange. Peter immediately straightened up and pretended that he wasn’t on the verge of a mental breakdown as the two Avengers stepped into the living room. 

Neither of them seemed mad which was... surprising, to say the least. They all stood there in silence for a moment, as though they were all waiting for one of them to say something. Eventually, Doctor Strange sighed and broke the silence. 

“The symbiote has been safely locked away again, and soon I’ll find a place to permanently keep it,” Doctor Strange explained. “Until then, I trust that no one will go near it.” He eyed Peter, but there was no malice behind the look, and Peter almost swore it was amusement. 

Peter blushes furiously and rugged at his sleeves. He scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry for all of this, Mister—Doctor Strange, sir,” He apologized. 

“Everything worked out,” Strange replied. “All is forgiven. Just try not to get yourself into anymore trouble for a while.” 

“Sure thing.” Peter nodded, but there would be no promises because Peter tended to get himself into trouble a lot. 

Strange turned to Tony. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with,” He said. 

“Sure thing. Thanks for the help, Strange.”

The doctor nodded and turned on his heel. He walked forward towards a wall and just as he was about to walk straight into it, he opened a sparkling yellow portal and vanished. 

The compound was silent again as Peter and Tony stared at each other. Peter was nervous. Was Mr Stark mad at him? Would he ban Peter from the lab, or take away his suit and internship? 

Instead, Mr Stark sighed and joined Peter on the couch. Peter shifted nervously as Mr Stark looked at him. “You okay, kid?” 

“Uh—y-yeah!” Peter replied and then glanced down at his lap. “Are you going to take the suit away?” 

A beat of silence. “Of course I’m not taking the suit, Pete.” 

The teen exhaled in relief. “Oh, thank God.” He sighed and then straightened up. “Uh-I mean-“ 

Mr Stark cut him off. “We all make mistakes, Underoos,” He said. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.” He placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder and Peter relaxed in his mentor’s hold. “Besides, this wasn’t your fault. If anything, it was mine.” 

Peter’s eyes widened as he turned to face Tony. “What are you talking about?” He asked. 

“I should have kept a closer eye on both you and that gooey ass alien,” Tony admitted. “None of this would’ve happened if I had been paying attention, Pete. So this one’s on me, you’re off the hook.” He grinned, but Peter wasn’t having it. 

“But you WERE paying attention!” He exclaimed. “You were there with me! It’s just that Venom was sneaky!” 

Tony raised an eyebrow at Peter. “Venom?” 

Peter nodded. “That’s it’s—his name,” He explained. 

“Hm. Well, glad he’s far away from you now.” Tony sniffed. “Can’t have my favorite intern out of commission, can I? Who else would get my afternoon coffee for me?” He teased, ruffling Peter’s brown curls. 

“Mr Stark!” Peter whined. “I don’t get you coffee!” 

“Oh, well that’s a problem then,” Tony replied. “I’m going to add that to your job description.” 

Peter rolled his eyes fondly. “Please, you would just complain and have to go make yourself a cup the way you like it,” He replied. 

“You make a valid point.” 

The room fell silent again, but this time the silence was a comfortable one. Peter felt himself relaxing more. He turned to Tony again. “Thanks for saving me, Mr Stark.” 

Tony smirked at his kid and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. Peter’s eyes widened and before he could ask, Tony said, “This isn’t a hug, it’s...”

”It’s a hug, Mr Stark.”

”No! It’s a reassuring... arm... hold. Yeah.” 

“Right. Whatever you say, Mr Stark.” 

“Damn right ‘whatever I say,’ I’m the boss of you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end!

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo this sort of sucked, but I hope it wasn't super terrible? It was gross and short oof.  
>  I hate that it was mostly dialogue so I'll definitely be changing that in the coming chapters. But anyway, as you can tell, this is a story about Venom. Peter is going to be around in the next chapter so be ready for him and his adorable ways.  
> Peace out!


End file.
